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"Findings from a new study published in PLoS One suggest additional impacts on fish communities from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DwH) oil spill may occur in the coming years. The study titled 'Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill evaluated using an end-to-end ecosystem model' estimates fish populations and ecosystem health in the decades following the 2010 BP oil spill.

'Even though we are 8 years removed from the oil spill, we may have not seen the last of its effects based on the results of our model' says Cameron Ainsworth, PhD, an associate professor at the University of South Florida-College of Marine Science and lead author on the publication.

The oil spill had its most lethal effects on bottom-dwelling and reef-associated fish, and especially on juvenile fish. In some species, there is a missing generation of fish. These fish would have reached maturity and enter the fishery within the next few years, but their absence could have cascading impacts through the food web, according to the model...."